1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to the field of information retrieval and display. In particular, the invention describes an integrated image and text storage, retrieval, and display system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Attorneys, bankers, insurance industry personnel, and other people, often work with large amounts of information in printed form. These people depend upon the persuasive presentation of information. That is, being able to organize and present information effectively and efficiently is paramount. Some systems, such as PowerPoint.RTM. from Microsoft, Inc., or Photoshop.RTM. from Adobe Systems, Inc., help users present information. Other systems, such as systems from Oracle Systems, Inc., help users find and retrieve information. However, these systems have a number of drawbacks.
The difference between a layman and an expert in presentation graphics is not in creating one graphical display, it is in the skill of transitioning well between graphic displays. That is, to tell a story. What is missing from the above systems is the combination of the organizational tools with the presentation tools to make developing a presentation easier, faster, and less expensive.
In a system, by the name of MarcoPolo 3.0, available from Mainstay of Camarillo, Calif., scanned paper documents are turned into electronic image files that are then processed using an optical character recognition program. Each scanned image is processed by the optical character recognition program and a corresponding electronic text file is generated. If a particular word or character cannot be recognized, then the text file will include the actual pixels from the original document. However, this leads to a number of problems. First, the full text of the document cannot be searched because some words will not appear in the text file. Second, the display of a retrieved file is not processed to make the generation of a persuasive presentation simpler.
Win Vzn Development Corporation, of Gilbert, Ariz., sells the WinVzn.TM. system. In WinVzn, images can be scanned and retrieved. Management tools allow a user to access, view and print scanned documents. Image control tools allow a user to view images by zooming, rotating and reversing the image. However, this system has a number of drawbacks. First, there is no link between the text contained in the image and the actual images, thus, searches cannot be performed on the text of the images. Second, automated visual enhancements are not generated from the search results.
Therefore, what is needed is a document handling, image processing, and image retrieval system that allows a person to perform text searches on the optically scanned, optically character recognized, original documents. The system should automatically generate enhanced visual graphics to be displayed with the original document images. Tools should be included that make the creation of a presentation easier, faster, and less expensive.